Father and Autistic Son Survive 14 Hours Lost at Sea

More often than not, the news today is full of sad and scary stories. But every once and awhile you come across one that makes you smile. The story of Walter Marino and his son Christopher is one of those stories.

Marino and his son were swept out to sea by strong currents while swimming in the waters off the coast of Florida near Daytona Beach. It was late afternoon when they were first caught in the current and Marino’s daughter noticed the duo was missing. Father and son were taken so far from shore they could no longer see (or be seen from) the beach. They ended up having to tread water – shark and jellyfish infested water – all night.

To make matters more difficult, the two were unable to stay together. At first, they were treading water, facing each other, but soon Christopher began to float away. Unable to hold him without drowning them both, Walter was helpless as he heard his son drift farther and farther away in the dark night. Christopher is autistic and is pretty non-verbal, so Walter sang lines from his favorite Disney movies, including lines from his favorite character, Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.

“I’d be screaming, ‘To infinity … and beyond!’ ” Marino said, referring to the Disney character Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase in “Toy Story,” one of Christopher’s favorite movies. “Then I would hear him and it would be more and more and more distant, until finally I couldn’t hear anything.”

When Walter was finally rescued by the Coast Guard fourteen hours later, Christopher was nowhere to be found. Walter says he resigned himself to thinking that Christopher was gone. He just didn’t think there was any way he could have survived the long dark night without a life jacket. He stayed aboard the search vessel but elected to wait below, saying he just couldn’t bear to find Christopher’s body.

When the Coast Guard called Walter up on deck hours later, he feared the worst. But to his amazement, the crew told him they’d found Christopher (3 miles from where they’d found Walter) and that he was safe. He’d been floating and treading water for nearly 14 hours.

Rescue team member David Birky said he was awed at Christopher’s resolve. “That kid is an amazing kid,” Birky said. “To tread water for almost 14 hours — I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could do that. They have amazing willpower to be able to do it.”

Just imagine the scene for a second – you’re swept out to sea, the sun sets, it’s dark, you’re being stung by jellyfish and worried about sharks, you don’t have a life jacket or anything to hold onto, and your son or father has drifted away from you. What would you do?

It’s a miracle they both survived.